An'Jalakh
An'Jalakh was the center of a vast Imperium that encompassed most of the Mercer 3 star cluster. History Mercer 3 Prior to An'Jalakh Mercer 3 was discovered by a team of astronomers on Old Terra on 25,350 BIE. Soon after, the cluster was discovered to possess a multitude of habitable planets, contrary to previous thought that gravitational perturbations would prevent the formation of planetary systems in globular clusters. Astrophysicists determined that the environment of White Dwarf stars actually facilitated the development of habitable worlds. The discovery of Multiverse Energy Amplification in 25,200 BIE revolutionized power production and allowed for the engineering of relativistic rockets with a limitless power source. Although travelling at sub-light speed, these rockets could accelerate for unlimited periods of time with energy obtained from the Multiverse. By 25,150 BIE, Terran governments were intent on using this technology to colonize other worlds and spread the human species. Although first settling nearby systems, including Epsilon Eridani and Gliese 667, soon the Terran fleets set their sights on loftier goals. On 25,050 BIE, a spacecraft was launched to colonize a planet within the core of Mercer 3, with the ultimate intent of settling all the habitable worlds in the cluster (of which there are over 100,000). After fifty years of travel (ship time), 10,000 colonists arrived at Origin on 25,000 BIE. After 1,000 years, Origin was a fully developed society of 10 billion. Over the next millenium, the planet would colonize some 1,000 other worlds throughout the cluster, including J'jik, the progenitor of Al'Jalakh. In an iterative colonization process, these planets in turn settled hundreds of other worlds, including Al'Jalakh, and by 20,000 BIE the entire cluster had been colonized with a total population of over 1 quadrillion. Settlement A colonization vessel from J'jik in 21,000 BIE settled Old An'Jalakh, a habitable moon orbiting a gas giant, with over 11,000 humans. Mining local mineral reserves, and expanding the settlement, by 20,300 BIE over 100,000,000 people lived on the world. Population Expansion Programme By 20,300 BIE, in an attempt to boost the availability of human capital and especially automation technicians, the leaders of the colony implemented a new form of demographic manipulation. Intelligent or especially capable citizens were cloned, new individuals were genetically engineered, breeding initiatives were implemented, and the population was given economic incentives to have children. The labour market was quickly flooded, and although wages fell, ultimately industrial operations benefitted from the availability of a skilled workforce. By 20,000 BIE, over 100 billion individuals lived on the moon, and the global economy was among one of the largest in the entire cluster. This push towards expanding human capital became the central advantage of An'Jalakh over its neighbors. Short-Distance Trade and Early Imperial Emergence From roughly 20,000 to 10,000 BIE, Mercer 3 experienced the Early Trade Era. Increased efficiency in Multiverse Energy Technology, and expansive planetary populations and economies drive short-distance interstellar trade, but long-haul routes were not yet used. Interstellar geopolitics were dictated by the desire to control these commercial routes between neighboring stars, and numberous confederacies and communities formed within the cluster. By 20,000 BIE, An'Jalakh was specializing in robotics production and exporting robotics products to nearby star systems, accounting for nearly 1% of the world's GDP. The high population put the moon at a definite advantage over adjacent worlds. Culture Economy Science and Technology Military Administration Urban Development Statistics Every single second, the citizens of the Capitol produced over 1.5 million tons of industrial waste; this was ejected in magnetic capsules from giant superconductive cannons and incinerated in the core of the Sun Every Day, 160 billion tons of water were consumed by the residents of the city, along with various industrial operations; hydrogen and oxygen gas was mined froma nearby gas giant and chemically processed in massive facilities to produce water The total population surpassed 20 trillion individuals, surpassing 2 million people per cubic mile Over 5.2 billion tons of highly valuable interstellar cargo, largely technical components and industrial goods, passed through the Imperial Starport every day Some 1.5 billion voyagers travelled through the city's Starport every day The GDP per capita was 700,000 Imperial credits, of which 40% originated from Imperial taxation and over 70% from interstellar trade in one form or another 1 trillion people died of thirst during the Great Siege of the city 12 trillion people were killed when the Capitol was destroyed by nuclear weapons 3 trillion residents were enlisted by the savage invaders to aid in scrapping the city, following the end of the siege